Longlevens

The Club, in its current format, was founded in 1954. We initially played in the North Gloucestershire League, but currently we operate in the uhlsport Hellenic League, the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League and the Stroud and District League. Our ladies team operate in the Gloucestershire County Women’s League.

In 2011-12, Gloucester City Council created a new football facility and we were fortunate enough to be offered the tenancy, which enabled us to make the step-up to the Gloucestershire County League as our facilities at our Club HQ could not be converted to ‘make the grade’. At this point, we must give great credit to E. G. Carter and Company Limited, our major sponsors, because, without them, we could not have got Saw Mills up to the required standard.

In recent years the Club has expanded massively, and we now run five male adult sides, a Ladies side and a Veterans team, our Junior Section covers sides from U8s to U11s, from where players transfer into our Youth Sections to give us continuous cover from U8s through to Veterans. Two seasons ago, we introduced a girls’ team and this section continues to expand.

We are recognised as a Two Star FA Accredited Club, the system that has replaced the previously used Charter Standard ‘banner’. A special mention here to Dennis Barnsley who has done so much work in respect of the Youth Section, to our Chairman Mark Cornell and Treasurer Chris Trout for putting in so much work to make the expansion of the Junior/Youth Sections happen.
We had spent more than forty years trying to reach the Gloucestershire County League, but amazingly, within three years we had passed through it and gained promotion to the uhlsport Hellenic League, having won the County League in 2013-14 and once again we were indebted to E. G. Carter and Company Limited for helping us upgrade Saw Mills to the required standard.
In 2014/15 we started another new phase for the Club, in Division One West of the uhlsport Hellenic League and what a start! We won the Division at the first attempt, so after three consecutive titles and two consecutive promotions, we found ourselves in the Hellenic Premier Division and have consolidated our position in that Division, which is no mean feat given that the majority of sides we play have a history and an infrastructure that is superior to ours.

In the 2021-22 season, we had our best ever experience in the FA Cup that culminated in us playing Gloucester City – a dream day out for the Club which will live long in the memory – but the past two seasons we were brought back to earth with exits from the FA Cup in the extra preliminary round.

The 2023-24 season saw a 16th place finish however the club did have the best FA Vase run reaching the second round after victories against Keynsham Town, Shortwood United and then a 430 mile round trip to Helston Athletic.
During the 2024-25 season, the club completed considerable upgrades to the ground at Saw Mills to comply with the new FA Stadium Accreditation scheme. This included a new 50-seater standard, covered terrace and fencing around the ground.
After 4 seasons at the helm, both Michael Palmer and Craig “Spider” Martin stepped down as co-managers having secured our Hellenic League Premier Division status on the last day of the 2024-25 season. Buster Davies and Pete Boyle were appointed as new managers for the 2025-26 season.

The 2025-26 season was a successful one for Buster and Pete’s first season. A solid 11th place finish in the league campaign was topped off with winning the Wiseman Lighting Floodlit Cup beating Hungerford Town U23s in the final. We were awarded the September and December uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division Team of the Month. At one point we were touching the play-off places however a heavy fixture schedule towards the end of the season due to the poor winter weather and our cup runs ultimately led to us tailing off and taking 11th spot.
For the 2026-27 season, Buster and Pete continue at the helm. Further ground improvements have been made over the summer to help with pitch drainage. We also have replaced our old metal halide floodlights with new LED ones.